


P is for Pain and Poison

by Rinkafic



Series: Jux 'verse [5]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M, Stargate Atlantis AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-17
Updated: 2012-05-17
Packaged: 2017-11-05 13:17:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/406859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rinkafic/pseuds/Rinkafic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Parrish is lost on a mission, Dr Lorne is despondent</p>
            </blockquote>





	P is for Pain and Poison

There had been a malfunction with the irrigation system in the greenhouses, so Evan had to spend the morning rescuing the triticum aestivum seedlings instead of going to meet with the Genii people on a trading mission. David had promised Evan that the next time Teyla took them to that world; he would make certain he was included, even if he had to go with another Gate Team.

He was up to his elbows in muck when Major Sheppard came to find him in the big greenhouse. “Doctor Lorne, I need to talk to you.”

“Can it wait, Major? I’m a little messy right now.” He held his dirty arms up as proof.

“I think you’re gonna wanna clean up, Doc. I’ll wait.” The expression on Sheppard’s face and the way he was acting made Evan nervous. He nodded and went over to the hose and rinsed off his arms and hands. He took off his lab coat and used it to dry his hands and forearms.

“Okay, what’s going on?”

Sheppard looked uncomfortable. “Doctor Lorne, I’m really sorry to have to tell you this…”

No.

Evan held his hands up and began to shake his head in denial as he realized what the look in Sheppard’s eyes meant, what his words were going to be.

“AG-3 ran into some trouble.”

“Are they back? Please tell me they’re back,” Evan begged, grasping Sheppard’s sleeve desperately.

“Sergeant Stackhouse is in the infirmary, in critical condition. He has a serious head injury.”

No. Stacks couldn’t be the only one back, and hurt? “Jason and David?”

Sheppard gulped and dropped a hand on Evan’s shoulder and squeezed. “I’m sorry Doctor Lorne. We recovered their bodies. They were badly burned, we identified them from their dogtags.”

Soundlessly, Evan slid to the floor and huddled there with his arms wrapped around his knees.

The worst thing he could have imagined had happened. He’d lost David.

~*~

He tried to carry on, he tried to be strong. But now he was alone again. He was afraid again. Stackhouse wasn’t expected to make it, and he was Evan’s last friend in the city. He had no one without his team.

Major Sheppard was being kind, his team had been the one to find AG-3 and he seemed to be making an effort to check up on Evan, probably because he had been David’s friend. It was his suggestion that Evan talk to Doctor Heightmeyer.

But talking to her only made him feel worse. It reminded him of how alone he was. He went to the small greenhouse after the session and walked around amid the tropical plants, trying to collect himself and get control.

It hurt. It hurt too much. He had opened up and let David in and now he was gone and the open space inside Evan was just filled with pain. He sat down on the floor, hugging his arms around his middle. He couldn’t do this anymore. He didn’t care about the expedition or the mission or the greenhouse. He couldn’t go on without David.

He looked up when the stupid malfunction-prone sprinklers kicked on, following the flow of the droplets down to the planting beds. His eyes fell on the red speckled leaves of one of the alien spice plants they had recently obtained in a trade. Quite tasty when dry roasted and ground to a powder, it was lethal if consumed raw.

Skirting over to the plant, he plucked a leaf and stared at it intently. This could stop the pain.

As he chewed and swallowed the second leaf, he thought that perhaps he should leave a note. He climbed to his feet and walked to the laptop that was sitting on the planting bench. He typed a short email to Major Sheppard, thanking him for trying to help.

The bushes from P65-219 smelled a little like honeysuckle, which Evan thought would be a nice last thing to smell. His steps faltered and he felt dizzy as he made his way over to them.

~*~

“What do you mean they faked our deaths?” Major Parrish demanded as Sheppard opened the door of his cell to let him out.

Sheppard was angry as he replied, “They burned some bodies and planted enough trace evidence to fool our sensors. They had your damned dogtags.”

“Why?” David asked as they made their way out of the underground maze.

“Him, they wanted the Ancient Gene.” McKay pointed to Markham.

Markham blushed slightly and attempted to change the subject, “How’s Nate? Why isn’t he with you?”

“He’s in the infirmary, in a coma. They hit him pretty hard on the head. Doctor Beckett can explain better about what is going on,” Sheppard told Jason.

David let Teyla, McKay and the big runner Sheppard had adopted pass by them before asking, “John, how’s David?”

“Sad, quiet, pretty damned depressed, if you want my honest opinion. I tried to hook him up with Doctor Heightmeyer, I don’t know if he kept the appointment.”

Frowning, David gave a nod and continued to worry about his boyfriend as he followed AG-1 out of the Genii prison. It looked to him as if Sheppard had thrown quite a tantrum, the place was crumbling and most of it was in flames.

~*~

Everything hurt; he felt as if an elephant had stepped on his midsection and then turned around and gave it an extra stomp for good measure. Were elephants capable of stomping? Evan wondered.

When he opened his eyes, David was glaring at him. He waved the datapad he was clenching in one fist. “My heart would go on hurting forever? You are such a fucking drama queen! You asshole!”

“Am I dead?”

David smacked his foot with the datapad. “No, Katie Brown found your sorry ass and they pumped your stomach and dosed you with anaphylactics.”

No wonder his middle hurt, it explained the elephants. “Why aren’t you dead?” His eyes began to tear as he looked at David.

“I was, but you pissed me off so much with this stunt that I came back to kick your ass!”

“You did not!”

“I would have. The Genii faked you guys out. Why did you do this Evan?”

Evan refused to meet his eyes. Moving to the head of the bed, David grasped his chin and forced his face up. He stroked a thumb over the scars on Evan’s cheek, scars he hardly ever noticed anymore. “How could you do this?”

One sob became a second and soon Evan was clinging to David, crying against his shoulder, his words completely incoherent. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry I yelled. We’re gonna figure this out, okay Ev? Shhh.” David pressed a kiss to the top of David’s head and held him tightly until he fell asleep.

Then he went looking for Kate Heightmeyer to figure out what to do next.

 

The End


End file.
